Sasuke's Break Point
by LBCwriter562
Summary: It's an all-Uchiha final at the Australian Open tennis championships. Sasuke is down 3 games to 4 and is facing break point at 30-40 on his serve. Will Sasuke be able to comeback from the deficit or will Itachi prevail and win another Grand Slam title?


**Disclaimer: **Masashi Kishimoto owns _Naruto _and all of the characters in the anime/manga.

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_The following short fic is based on the incident that occurred during the 2004 Australian Open women's singles championship match between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. _

_The Uchihas, Sasuke and Itachi, will be the main stars in this fic. _

**Enjoy! **

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Sasuke Uchiha of Belgium had a very angry expression on his face... a very agonizing, infuriating, irate expression on his face. He had justification to sport such. It wasn't because of the scorching hot Australian heat that the raven-haired Uchiha had to endure, or the fact that the rubberized Rebound Ace hard court would reflect the sun's heat back onto the players, making for an oven-like ambience. No, there was another good reason for such…

"Thirty - forty," chair umpire Sandra de Jenken announced from the chair.

With Sasuke serving, he was now facing break point at three games to four in the final set of the Australian Open Championship. His opponent was none other than fellow Belgian… and older brother…

**Itachi Uchiha.**

Infuriated with his wild two-handed backhand error from the last point and cringing on the notion that Itachi would possibly run away with yet another Grand Slam title to add in his repertoire (already having a Roland Garros/French Open and a US Open title), Sasuke desperately attempted to cease nerves by adjusting the strings on his blue Babolat Pure Drive racquet with his fingers. After a few moments of string adjusting, he gestured towards the nearest ballboy to toss him a few tennis balls. Briefly resting under the cool shades of the Rod Laver Arena, the younger Uchiha inhaled deeply before walking up to the baseline of the tennis court. His eyes couldn't help but to notice all of the sponsorship brandings that surrounded the tennis court, whether it be on the walls or on the net or even on the officials and ballkids. Sponsors included Kia Motors, Garnier, GE Money, Aviva, IBM, and Rado Swiss Watches.

Sporting a sleeveless blue and white-striped Fila top that showcased his pale muscular arms and a pair of blue Fila shorts that revealed his toned legs, Sasuke adjusted the white Fila visor on his head as his onyx-toned eyes gazed upon Itachi. The older brother across the net sported a red and black-striped sleeveless Adidas top that too showed off his muscles and a pair of white and black Adidas shorts.

When Sasuke's gaze met Itachi's, the raven-haired Uchiha began to bounce the optic green ball onto the rubberized court, attempting to capture his rhythm to get back into the game.

_C'mon Sasuke… you can't let aniki beat you again… you gotta break him back and bring it to deuce…_

With his self pep-talk completed, Sasuke tossed the tennis ball up into the air. He bent his knees in preparation to use his body to apply power on his serve. He took his right arm back, putting the racquet behind his head. And before the ball could drop back down onto the ground, Sasuke lunged his racquet arm and frame forward.

_**SMACK**_

Sasuke's serve echoed throughout the elongated shape of the Rod Laver Arena. The optic green ball cleared the net as it landed at the corner of Itachi's service box. The IBM sponsored radar gun clocked the raven-haired Uchiha's serve at 193 kilometers/hour.

Itachi, anticipating the direction of the serve, managed to return it with his one-handed backhand. However, the reply was rather weak as the ball landed only within the center of Sasuke's court, bouncing relatively high.

Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke ran up to the short ball and gave it a good smack with his forehand, putting an immense amount of topspin on the ball. The spin was tremendous enough for the ball to travel towards Itachi's forehand side, giving it a good bounce up in the air. He then retreated back to the comfort zone of the baseline.

Itachi, practically on the other side of his court, ran for the spinning ball that was traveling away from him. Luckily, the speed of the older Uchiha was fast enough for him to reach the ball, playing a defensive slice with his red Wilson racquet since executing a traditional topspin forehand was not possible for the moment.

_Ugh, won't aniki ever give up!_

Frustrated that Itachi was able to retrieve the ball, Sasuke again seized the opportunity as Itachi's reply was short once again, this time bouncing extremely high up in the air in the middle of the court. Seeing that the older brother has returned to the middle of the baseline, indecisive on which side of the court to choose, the Sasuke once again decided to use his dominant topspin forehand.

"Huh-UUUGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke grunted as he brushed the ball with an extreme amount of topspin, speeding up the ball towards Itachi's forehand side once again, hoping to wrong-foot his brother.

"Oh no!" Itachi jumped as he saw the ball spinning at his forehand side again. Luckily again, his speed came into use. "Ugh!" The older sibling yelped, once again playing a defensive forehand slice.

_Oh my god! You gotta be kidding me! _

Sasuke scowled as Itachi once again returned another one of his hard-hitting forehands. This time, however, Itachi's return was more defensive as the ball was practically airborne.

_Yes! This is my chance…_

Sasuke ran up towards the net and waited for the ball to drop down at an appropriate length. Instead of waiting for the ball to bounce onto the ground and giving a good overhead smash, the younger Uchiha decided to be bold. He smacked the ball with a looped forehand, or a swinging forehand volley as one would call it.

"YES!" Sasuke ecstatically fist pumped as the crowd loudly began to cheer. His onyx-toned eyes just captured the ball landing on the white painted line of the baseline and Itachi had stood frozen in place, not being able to make a move for it. Sasuke also made sure that the baseline judge at the side signaled the ball in.

However, on the other side of the court, Itachi clearly had a different opinion. Thinking that the ball had barely skidded long, he held up a finger as he walked over to the ball girl to get his towel.

"No! The ball was out!" Itachi stated amongst the cheer, specifically towards the chair umpire.

Content that he averted a break point to give Itachi a 5 - 3 games lead and bringing the score to deuce (40 - 40), Sasuke began to walk over to the shade at the backcourt, pointing to the nearest ballboy for his towel and tennis balls. However, what was to come next for the raven-haired Uchiha definitely made him freeze into place.

"Out! The ball is out!" Chair umpire Sandra de Jenken announced. "Game, Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke's facial expression dramatically altered as it went from a joyous state to that of deep, utter astonishment. Not only did the sudden overrule from de Jenken give Itachi the 5 – 3 games lead in the final set, but it also setup the older Uchiha to serve out for the Australian Open championship. An immense loud amount of boos and whistles and hisses began to echo throughout the Rod Laver arena. The crowd was firmly behind what they nicknamed the younger Uchiha as_Aussie Sasuke_.

"NO WAY! NO WAY!" Sasuke furiously stated as he began to walk towards the chair. "NO WAY! How can you overrule a call that's the furthest away from you?!"

"I saw it out, Mr. Uchiha," the French umpire calmly stated towards an infuriated Sasuke.

"NO WAY! You cannot be serious!" Sasuke eagerly tried to restrain himself from smashing his racquet onto the ground, knowing well he would get a code violation. "How can you say that you clearly saw it out?! COME ON!!! Even the baseline judge called it good!!!" The irate raven-haired Uchiha clamored as he pointed at the baseline judge nearby.

"I clearly saw it out, Mr. Uchiha," de Jenken kept her cool, despite all of the ever-growing louder boos from the _Aussie Sasuke _supporters. "Now Mr. Uchiha, if you don't go out and commence play, I will have to impose a time violation on you."

Grinding his teeth, Sasuke was anything but pleased at the umpire... but somehow, he managed to walk away without tearing her apart.

"Ugh, FINE, I'll drop it! But you are one... INCOMPETENT chair umpire! Mark my words!" And with that said, Sasuke began to walk back to his side of the court to receive Itachi's serve.

"Itachi Uchiha leads five games to three, final set," de Jenken announced as Sasuke began to walk away, drawing even more boos and hisses and whistles from the crowd.

While Sasuke turned around, his onyx-toned eyes captured the sight of his brother getting ready to serve. However, while briefly gazing at the black and red Adidas player, the raven-haired Uchiha noticed a particular reddish color glinting in his brother's eyes... featuring a kaleidoscope symbol within his pupils.

_Holy… what the hell is that? _

Sasuke began to discreetly look closer into his brother's eyes, curious to see what in the world he was gazing upon. Suddenly, as Sasuke delved even deeper into Itachi's eyes, the older Uchiha's pupil suddenly expanded in size, making the younger Uchiha wince and immediately withdrawing his gaze.

_Whoa… what… was… that…?_

For some atypical reason, Sasuke's heart began to beat faster and faster as he walked towards the baseline to receive serve. Not making the situation any better, his normally clear and focused mind started to become more distorted, rendering his concentration ability to decline severely.

"Ugh… why do I... feel so… so… dizzy…?" Sasuke placed a hand on his temple as he positioned himself to receive serve.

Seeing that his younger brother was ready, Itachi tossed up the ball into the air and gave it a good smack. The ball traveled down the T (middle line) at approximately 169 kilometers/hours.

Forlorn for Sasuke, he didn't expect Itachi's serve to go down the middle, but was anticipating it to travel his forehand side. The ball swiftly passed his left side as it caught the service line and the middle T.

"Fifteen – Love," Sandra de Jenken announced as people began to softly clap.

Itachi gave a little fist pump for his service ace while Sasuke once again had his hand on his temple, seemingly trying to shake off his mentality.

"Ugh, why is my head like this? I can't focus when it's all contorted like this…" Sasuke rubbed his eyes as he moved to the ad-side (left side) area of the court. After adjusting the strings on his racquets to calm any sign of nerves within himself, the raven-haired Uchiha positioned himself to receive serve.

_Come on Sasuke, you gotta focus! You gotta focus! You gotta—_

"Thirty – Love," the chair umpire announced in the microphone.

_What? What happened…? _

Sasuke exhibited a perplexed facial expression as he didn't realize that Itachi had just aced him once again.

"You have... got to be kidding me…" Sasuke angrily grumbled as he let his brother score two free points on him. Going back to the deuce (right) side of the court, the younger Uchiha yet again held his temple as his vision now became a bit distorted now. "Ugh, what's going on with me?"

On the other side of the net, Itachi watched as his brother suffered from the mysterious headaches that started at the beginning of the latest game. He smirked at the sight of his little brother going through such adversity. Seeing that Sasuke was finally ready receive serve, Itachi tossed the ball up into the air and gave it another good smack towards the right corner of the service box.

This time, Sasuke managed to get the ball back into play… but not quite the way he wanted as he was only able to block the serve. This gave Itachi the opportunity to run up to the net and smack the ball back to the other side as it sat up in the air, rendering Sasuke motionless.

"Forty – Love," Sandra de Jenken announced as the crowd began to stirrup as Itachi now held three championship points for the Australian Open title.

"Come on, Sasuke! Stay in the match!" a spectator yelled from the crowd.

"Aussie Sasuke!" another hollered.

_Come on! You can't let them down!_

Sasuke began to jump around in place, hoping to get at least one last burst of energy before succumbing to his older brother… once again.

"Come on, Sasuke… You gotta get it together!" The raven-haired Uchiha tried his best to pump himself up. "You can't let aniki win another title!"

After giving himself a self-motivation session, Sasuke aggressively got himself prepared to receive serve from his brother.

Itachi, knowing his brother won't be going easily, decided that he must go for a very hard serve. The older Uchiha bounced the ball on the ground for a few times to gather momentum. He then tossed the it into the air and smacked the ball to the other side.

_**BEEP**_

"FAULT!" The service line judge yelled out, collecting a few whistles from the crowd as the ball landed seemingly close to the line. It was not a problem for Sasuke as he was able to return the ball into play, even though it won't really count.

Itachi, a little angry that the Cyclops machine called his serve long, grumbled as he asked for another ball from the ballboy. Inhaling the hot Aussie air heavily, Itachi bounced the ball again before smacking it into the service box considerably slowly and lightly.

The moment the ball left Itachi's racquet, Sasuke jumped into the right position in order to take advantage of his brother's slow second serve. Taking a bold strategy, the raven-haired Uchiha decided to go for a backhand winner down the line. Targeting the ball with his eyes, he positioned his arms to hit a backhand. His arms tensing up, Sasuke smacked the ball forward down the line with much exertion. The circular optic green object went in a seemingly straight projectile motion down the line. As soon as the ball hit the surface of the court...

"OUT!" The alley line judge stuck her right arm out.

"Game, set, and match: Itachi Uchiha!" Sandra de Jenken announced the winner. "Two sets to one: 6-4, 4-6, 6-3."

As soon as he saw the ball go wide, Itachi dropped to his knees and raised his arms in joy, basking in the glory of being crowned the new Australian Open champion. The applause of the Melburnian crowd was not as loud as expected since so many hoped that _Aussie Sasuke_ would be the new champ.

Opposite of Itachi, a very disappointed Sasuke stood in place, realizing that he let the chances of achieving his first major slip away through his fingers. He held his head low as his raven-haired bangs covered a very disenchanted facial expression.

_I… I can't believe… that I lost… once again…_

Knowing that he couldn't mope in front of the crowd, Sasuke held his head back up high as he walked over to the net to congratulate his brother for the victory.

After Itachi finished basking under the glory of victory, he got back up from his knees and began to walk towards his awaiting brother.

Sasuke was the first to offer his hand out in congratulations. Itachi immediately shook it in addition to giving his younger brother a hug.

"Congrats aniki…" Sasuke solemnly stated, but tried to keep an upbeat tone.

"You did alright yourself…" Itachi offered back.

As soon as they finished, the Uchihas began to walk up towards Sandra de Jenken in the chair. Not happy with the overrule she made earlier, Sasuke didn't even bother to shake hands with her, but instead just waved to her with his racquet. Itachi, on the other hand, gladly shook her hand and accepted her congratulations.

Before Sasuke could head over to his seat to sit down and try to recover all of lost energy, he could've sworn that he heard his brother state a phrase that would definitely make him irate later on.

"Foolish little brother…"

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"Oi, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto called out to Sasuke, whom was dressing up into some nicer clothes for the post-match press conference in the locker room.

"What, dobe?" Sasuke called out from inside.

"Uh, I think you might wanna take a look at this, dattebayo…" Naruto sported a worried look on his face as he watched a particular clip that he knew would make Sasuke go absolutely ballistic.

As soon as the raven-haired Uchiha was dressed up and ready to go, he headed over towards the TV monitor where the blond whiskered boy was standing.

"So, what is it?"

"Um, I'll let you see for yourself…" Naruto hesitantly said as he played the clip. It was a clip from the Hawkeye tracker system that electronically kept track of ball's trajectory paths that were in play during that match and could show the last possible place of where the ball landed last. The system could prove to be of much aid in determining of whether the ball landed inside or outside the court.

The clip that Sasuke was being shown was the play in which he did a swinging volley on 30 – 40 at 3 – 4 games against him.

"Okay… look… carefully…" Naruto then slowed down the clip as the part of the point where Sasuke hit the swinging volley was on the screen. The ball began to travel slowly towards the baseline. During the process, one could see that the Uchiha was very curious and antsy to see whether or not the ball was really in or out.

When the trajectory of the ball was soon finished calculating, Sasuke looked anything but pleased to what he saw on the screen...

The circular imprint of the ball's bounce on the court had just touched the back edge of the baseline, thus the point should've been called good in Sasuke's favor. However, Sandra de Jenken overruled it out… seemingly after Itachi pointed his finger up in the air and said it was out.

"OH… MY… GOD…" Sasuke slowly retorted out, anger obviously taking over his emotions.

"Uh… I think… I'll just leave you… alone…" As soon as Naruto finished speaking, he dashed out of the locker room in an instant. Even though he was nearly out of the Rod Laver Arena, the Uzumaki still managed to hear the deep roar of a very angry runner up.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! THAT CHEATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!"**

"Damn... I guess he really did get screwed…"

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- Owari -


End file.
